Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 20,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,929,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 432,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,890,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835 shares during the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 13,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $163.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $261.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $166.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $154.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.87.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.